You could call it the Knives Out effect, but television has been trying to replicate the arch/witty murder mystery, featuring a starry ensemble cast, ever since Rian Johnson’s film won the affections of audiences in 2019. In No Good Deed, Netflix has another go at it. This eight-part comedy-drama comes from the makers of the similarly soapy and heightened Dead to Me. It also has a touch of The Afterparty to it, only this time, the story finds its whodunnit in the midst of the housing market in expensive US cities.
Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul (Ray Romano) are selling their gorgeous and sizable 1920s villa in Los Feliz, a highly desirable neighbourhood in Los Angeles. US real estate is an ecosystem all of its own, and three families are vying to spend millions of dollars on the house. In order to do this, they must impress the terminally depressed Lydia and Paul, and their substance-loving realtor Greg (Matt Rogers). Lydia and Paul would like to instigate a bidding war, to allow them to buy a ranch and fill it with horses. The potential buyers are desperate enough to take the bait. Still, the idea of being forced to bargain with people to beg them to take your stash of money is a strange one, but if I have learned anything from Kirsty and Phil, it’s that a hot market does not always behave rationally.
That is where the Location, Location, Location similarities end, or at least we would hope that they do. There are three families clamouring for Lydia and Paul’s affections. There’s married couple Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu), who are in the middle of an IVF journey. There’s Carla (Teyonah Parris), Dennis (O-T Fagbenle) and his mother Denise (Anna Maria Horsford), newlyweds plus pushy mother-in-law, who are all hiding behind a complex web of lies. Famously, a lack of transparency is a fantastic idea when attempting to pursue a draining financial burden. And then there are neighbours JD (Luke Wilson) and Margo (Dead to Me alumna Linda Cardellini), a soap star and his glamorous wife, who are curious about the house over the road.
No Good Deed is billed as a dark comedy, but that makes for a sometimes queasy blend of outright slapstick and painful family tragedy. Wilson and Cardellini are playing it for laughs, as the most straightforwardly comic of the couples. JD is a not-too-bright actor in denial about the decline of his career, while Margo is scheming, promiscuous and has a fridge full of vodka but little else. Dennis is a novelist and a chronic keeper of secrets, though in my experience, those two traits rarely appear in the same person. Some might call him a mummy’s boy, which his mother is more than happy to encourage, much to Carla’s despair. Meanwhile, Sarah is obsessed with real-time crime-report apps, a storyline that also appeared in the tonally similar Elsbeth – murder, but make it jaunty! – which makes me wonder if such apps might replace the true crime podcast as the plot device of the moment. Sarah’s obsession leads her, and Leslie, to dig into the dark past of the house. Naturally, that dark past is just sitting there, waiting to come to light.
All three of the couples’ storylines dance with Paul and Lydia’s domestic dramas, which are extensive, and feature Denis Leary, rarely a sign of a happy and healthy home. Every viewing, every offer, every ring of the doorbell unpeels yet another layer of lies. Lydia is a formerly famous concert pianist who is no longer able to play the piano because of a deeply painful recent family tragedy; this means that she and Paul are in more debt than they can handle. Using this as a foundation on which to lay bricks made of outrageous gags is certainly a choice. Sometimes it is fine, sometimes a little crass, and occasionally, it is frustrating, as if scenes could have been played as either straight or silly, depending on where the coin toss lands.
Inconsistencies aside, this is perfectly watchable, and carried by some strong performances, not least Romano and Kudrow, who are able to swim through some of the murk. Cardellini and Wilson may have an easier job, as the more caricature-like characters, but they are fun to watch. Each instalment twists and teases, nicely setting up the binge. The episodes are short, pacy, and packed with plot, so it’s all too easy to let the next one roll. It doesn’t exactly go for the subtle approach, preferring to hammer the puzzle pieces together with a clumsy fist. It may be so light as to make me wonder whether the idea or the punny title came first, but it is enjoyable, nevertheless.
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